Black Lily
by Max Cio
Summary: Rin Gota, a girl who can never say no to a challenge and ramen, wins a scholarship for Ouran Academy. When she stumbles upon the Host Club and catches the evil eye of a certain twin, a game of war and pranks erupts in the school...and for Rin, nothing will ever be the same.
1. 1 A Very Bad Day

**Hi! So just a few notes: it's based after the anime, right after the last episode. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

**A Very Bad Day**

**Rin**

_What exactly did I expect when I stepped into the music room, also known as the Host Club room? Something a bit more formal? An underground group of criminals? A tutoring house? Whatever it was, I still don't know. But one thing's for sure—at the risk of sounding cliché, it changed my life forever._

"You'll really enjoy it," said the girl whose name Rin still didn't know. Her face was lit up with happiness, as if she had made her day by asking what _it_ meant. "Maybe you can come with me after school?"

"I don't know," Rin replied politely, still scanning through the Math assignment that the teacher had assigned her the other day. "I have things to study for—"

"Oh, come on," Brown Haired Girl nagged. "Just stay for a few minutes, and see how it's like! Every girl in school has gone there. You should have the experience! It's almost like a school tradition here."

"I'll think about it," she said. "Besides…what's the point of the Host Club anyways?"

Her eyes widened, as if she had spoken a Taboo word. "What?" she squeaked.

Rin sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get any decent response from this girl. Even if she seemed pretty nice, she was an airhead. Come to think of it, almost every other girl here was an airhead. She wasn't going to get decent information about the Host Club she didn't go. It was as simple as that.

"Sure, I'll come," Rin said casually. "Where will we meet?"

"Oh, we don't have to meet. I'll just see you there?"

"Sure. That's fine." Rin let out a small smile, hoping that she didn't sound sarcastic. Luckily, Brown Haired Girl just grinned back and turned as the teacher came in the door.

If this thing was going to be a waste of her time, she was never going to follow the advice of an Ouran Academy student ever again.

****

**Name: ?**

**Appearance: Brown haired with eyes the same shade. Petite, looks like she hasn't done much work. Voice is squeakier than most, making her sound younger than her age (15).**

**Background: From her talking, seems like her father's in the interior market or something like that. She seems pretty popular in Ouran, although hated by a few.**

**Relationship to her: Just someone who I can use to get around the school. After that, I could ditch her.**

So far, Rin had gotten very little information about her only companion. Looked like the students here were better at keeping their mouths shut compared to the people in the other school she had gone to. That was no big deal. Hopefully, she would improve at collecting more information about others.

Rin walked towards the halls, trying to keep her head down. Thankfully, they didn't think much of her—but she had to keep it that way. From what Rin gathered, they thought it was weird that she wore the boy's uniform instead of wearing the clothes that she was supposed to wear.

The reason why she did it? One, to hide the bruises. Two, the heavy cloth of the dress made it hard to walk in. Three, the mixture of black and white ribbons that she used to tie up her hair clashed with the color of the dress—and matched with the blazer and pants.

Well, yellow was never her color in the first place. For starters, her slightly pale skin and long dark brown hair made her look paler in that shade. Also, according to the magazines she saw in stores, yellow made you look happier. She wasn't exactly the type of person you would see smiling every day. Rin would probably do the exact opposite.

Her eyes darted around the halls. It seemed like she was one of the lucky few out, only a few people milling the school. Rin walked faster, trying to get a glimpse of the people without making it seem like she was stalking them. As she did so, Rin brought out her notebook again and started jotting down things.

**Girl with blonde hair and pink nails seems to have a crush on a guy with red glasses and weird smile. Keeps on giggling and playing with her hair.**

**Surprisingly, no signs of alcohol or drugs. Either the school has a strict policy and actually keeps an eye on others, or the students are too scared. Must ask Brown Haired Girl on this later.**

**Library's always noisy. Mental note to self: never study there, unless in critical need.**

**Bag is seriously heavy. Jot down important things later, so I don't need to bring books.**

**First kooky sign detected! There's a guy with a black hood stalking the dark places. Possibly scared of the brightness? Maybe a sickness? Most likely both.**

Rin wrote down everything she saw. The reason why she did it was because she could forget something, and the notebook helped her remember. It was also fun to pretend that she actually knew things from time to time. Actually, people thought she was weird for carrying a notebook around, but they didn't know the real reason why she brought it along. It was almost amusing to watch them try to find out what it contained.

Finally, she realized that she was already at the end of the hall.

There it was. The location of the Ouran Host Club.

There was the sign at the door indicating that it was the third music room. Rin was more surprised by the fact that they had more than one music room than the fact that they held it in a music room in the first place.

Silence practically emanated from the room, as if no one was there yet. Was this some kind of trick? Could Brown Haired Girl have fooled her? Rin flipped through the pages of her notebook. Well, the directions she gave were correct…so why was it so quiet?

There was only one way to find out. And that was through opening the door.

So she stretched out her arm, and put her fingers on the gold handle. It felt cold in her hand, yet somehow it felt used, as if another person had entered. That was a good thing, right? That meant that there was a bigger possibility that this wasn't a prank. Although she didn't know the reason why, Rin took a deep breath and opened the door.

Suddenly, everything turned white. On the instinct, she narrowed my eyes, trying to get used to the brightness. As if on cue, rose petals hovered to the outside, covering her sight. She wiped a hand through her face as one landed on her nose. There was something strange about this. Something really weird… "What the—?" Rin began, but then stopped in mid-sentence.

There were a group of boys who were gathered together, standing regal and tall. The first thing she noticed was the blonde-haired boy at the centre, who was dressed like an old European king. He looked kind of cute with his crown perched on top of his head, as if it was going to fall down.

Two identical twins with bright red hair and cat-like eyes flanked his side, their smirks synchronizing with one another as they turned to observe her. They were dressed like jesters, judging from the bells on their hat. There was a stoic guy who looked scary, with a blonde child-like person with a smile on his shoulders, their outfits reminding her of the ones of royalty in the medieval times.

A pretty-boy like guy with big brown eyes was behind the blonde. He looked a lot nicer than the rest, with his suit of armor. Lastly, there was a guy with glasses and black hair wearing a dark robe. A clipboard was in his hands, and he didn't look up to her like the others as he wrote down some things.

In short? They looked kind of creepy with the costumes…yet kind of…

There was no other word to describe it. It was just that something radiated off them that she couldn't find the words to explain.

Rin thought that she must've looked like an idiot standing there, because the one in the centre stood up from the throne, fixing a charming smile on his face. "Hello there, princess," he said brightly. "What's your name?"

"Um…this is the Host thing, right?" Rin asked, trying to confirm the current spot. Because there was no way that a bunch of guys would willingly put on costumes…right?

That was proof that the world had gone insane.

"Yes. Welcome to the Ouran Host Club!" called the red-heads on the side. "Who would you like to be your host?"

"Host?" Rin echoed. "Isn't this a tutoring club or something?"

"Huh?" said the twins. Confused looks were evident on their faces. "What do you mean?"

"Tutoring…" Rin's voice trailed off, as all of the other members started to stare at her. It was obvious that they had no idea what was she talking about.

Okay. This was becoming quite embarrassing. Heat rising to her cheeks but masked as Rin narrowed her eyes, she turned towards the door. "Looks like I got it wrong. Well, bye—"

"Wait," said one of the twins. "She's the scholarship commoner, right?"

Commoner?

Commoner. Commoner…oh.

She was the commoner.

Well, at least had their vocabulary down.

"Stop calling other people commoner, it can get really annoying," said the guy with big brown eyes. "She's in our class. You didn't notice?"

"No," they said in perfect unison.

She edged closer to the door, hoping for a quick escape. This situation was becoming a bit too awkward for her, and if she stayed any longer, Rin somehow knew that she would ruin any chances of blending in. "So, okay, bye—"

"How come you can't notice a person who sits right in front of you?"

"That's her?"

"Yes."

"…we didn't notice."

"Look, I'm going to go and study—"

"You mean you don't want to talk with us?" The child on the guy's shoulders suddenly looked sad. "But I wanted to talk with _you_!"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you to, back when I thought I'd learn something," Rin quipped. "What do you guys do here anyways? Play dress-up all day?" she added, glancing quickly at their attire. It actually felt relaxing to let out a side comment for the day.

"What are you saying? Pretty girls like you shouldn't say such foul language! Yet, you're not just a pretty girl…you're a princess." In a blink of an eye, Blondie moved nearer to her, his violet-like eyes gazing into hers as if she was a piece of bread and he was a beggar. They were too close to each other, only the air separating the two. "This is only a small club, where we entertain beautiful women like you. Alas, I could drown myself in your eyes for eternity—"

Rin snickered. "Why would I want to be with a guy who wants to entertain other girls?" Besides, her family problems gave her more than enough boy problems than what she needed.

Great. She had forgotten Oath Number One: don't think about Him for a day in school.

Also feeling more uncomfortable than before, she quickly turned her face away from Blondie. That action brought her to the thing she was thinking of hours ago. "What is the Host Club about anyways?" she asked. "Isn't this a place where you study?"

"Study?" Brown Eyes shook his head. "No. We do something a bit more different."

"What is it then?"

And so Blondie cleared his throat and began his speech.

"Um, wow," was all she could say when he was done. "…interesting idea."

So it was basically a place where rich guys talked to rich girls, and got cash off them.

No wonder they had enough money for the costumes.

"Yeah!" Child-Boy cried. "So who do you want to pick?"

"What kind of guy are you into anyways?" For the first time, Glasses looked at Rin. His face held no emotion, so she couldn't really figure out what he felt about this situation. Weirded out as she was? Confused?

"I don't really have a type—"

"Everyone has one!" Blondie cut in, gesturing furiously to the guy who was carrying Child-Boy. Rin wondered why everyone interrupted her when she was about to say something. "Do you go for the wild type? Or the loli-shota?" he added, looking at Child-Boy. He just cocked his head to the right, looking innocent even with that small gesture.

"Of course, you could be into cool guys—" Glasses only nodded in response.

"—or the little devils." The twins turned to each other, smirking and high-fiving one another.

"There's also the natural, if you swing that way. I wouldn't forgive you if you hurt my daughter though," he said, his gaze turning to Brown Eyes. Rin swore that his amiable face softened a bit as he looked at her. Romance, ay? Wait—

"Really?" Rin examined Brown Eyes. He—or she—seemed almost like a boy, with her short hair. But when you thought of it that way, it made sense.

"Or do you go for my type?" He leaned closer to her, cupping Rin's face with his hands. His hands felt warm to her cold flesh. She swore that if this was a drama, there would be some corny love song blaring in the background.

"I told you, I don't have a type," Rin snapped as she tried to shove him away without being too rude. Instead, Rin ended up half-heartedly pushing him away.

"That's a surprise," Blondie said, regaining his balance by side-stepping. "Everyone must have a type!"

She ran a finger through her hair, worrying about it being tangled. If he ended up being the reason why it was messed up, she was going to kill him. "Well, I don't," she said edgily. "Now could you please let me go? I have a bunch of assignments I need to go, and I'm not going anywhere with you blocking the way. Plus—"

"Is she okay?" One of the twins asked the other, a knowing simper on his face.

The other twin nodded. "She's great," he enthused. "_Really_ great."

Brown Eyes looked at her sympathetically. "Good luck. You'll need it."

"Need it for what—AAAHHH!"

Suddenly (again), the twins appeared by Rin's side, grabbing her arms. Rin tried to fight back by squirming around, but somehow they remained a firm grip as they dragged her across the room.

Rin was about to open her mouth to scream, but when she caught in Glasses' stare, there was something that stopped her. Her mouth froze as she looked into the eyes of a demon. Then, he smiled.

"Please don't scream," he said pleasantly. "It would attract unwanted attention towards this place. Besides, if you do, I assure you that you might regret it for the rest of your life."

Rin couldn't believe it. Dai said that she was the only one who convince anyone to do anything. But there was this rich kid in glasses, who was keeping her own mouth shut. This was definitely a dream, right?

The one on the right _tsked_. "Would you stop moving? We aren't going to kill you or anything."

"That's what they say in the movies," Rin growled, not stopping for a second to breath. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"A simple conversation," the twin on the right said. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Could you _please _let me go?" Rin begged, switching for different tactics.

"Sorry, no can do!" Quickly, they pushed her to the couch. "Now let us begin!"

**Kyoya**

Somehow, he knew that today's events were going to be quite amusing.

Kyoya sat down by a chair as he waited for the other customer to come, still writing on his notebook. He was carefully trying to divide the funds for the club, silently cursing Tamaki for ordering the crown. It was worth half the total budget that he had planned. If his calculations were accurate (which most likely were), the profits they would receive for this day would barely cover the amount that they had spent.

Haruhi seemed to notice what was going on, and temporarily averted her gaze from the twins and the girl to him. "It was too much?"

He nodded in return. There was no need for other words.

Haruhi smiled. "Well, I suppose we could save more for the next meeting…"

"It won't be enough," Kyoya interrupted. "For the price that we spent today, I need to increase the bid for Honey's sweater at the auction website. Maybe a hundred thousand yen higher? Yes, that seems profitable…" Already set in action, he picked up his laptop from the table and immediately started typing.

"Eh," Haruhi said, looking back at the sight. She seemed to realize that there was nothing she could do about the situation and decided to let him be. A good choice, since he was the only one who could run the club and not let it go bankrupt.

Once he was done, Kyoya shut down the laptop and scribbled the price change down. Then he looked around the room, realizing that there were only a few girls inside. Well, it was a bit early he supposed. Silently, he tried to look for anything worth his time. And for that moment, it was the commoner and the twins.

"So," Karou started, eyeing the girl with a lecherous look. "What class are you in?" Kyoya knew that he was exaggerating his actions, his typical response for any customer. He wasn't a hundred percent sure about Hikaru though, who was doing the same, but somehow he seemed bored.

Lately, the angrier twin had been more prone to doing things that even he wouldn't have done in the past. It started when Haruhi had started dating Tamaki. At first, Hikaru seemed to be okay, despite the way his body would stiffen when the couple would enter the room together. It had only gotten worse when they heard the news about Tamaki's father approving the relationship. Hikaru was now prone to mood swings, and tended to be ruder once any of the two were in the room. Not surprisingly, the only people who didn't notice this were Hikaru and Tamaki themselves. Kyoya chuckled in his head at the irony.

The girl inhaled a deep breath. It was as if she was trying to keep whatever it was from bursting out. "Same as you," she said darkly. "Weren't you listening earlier?"

"Sorry, our bad!" cried the twins in unison.

"We tend to get things messed up sometimes," Karou said. He turned to Hikaru. "Right brother?"

"Right." The vehemence in his tone was almost as strong as the girl's.

Karou's face fell slightly, but he managed to keep the worried expression on his face as he turned to their next tactic: brotherly love. "Hikaru, are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Yes, but it would be much better if you would fix it for me tonight," Hikaru answered, some of his former self returning to his features. He stroked Karou's now-I'm-about-to-cry mouth, and whispered, "I hope you do."

"Hikaru…"

Kyoya glanced at the girl, wondering what she would be doing. To his surprise she wasn't even watching—instead, she unwrapped a stick of gum and popped it in her mouth. "What were you saying?" she asked innocently.

Hikaru frowned. "Nothing," he muttered. "Absolutely nothing."

Karou tensed up, hesitation clear in his eyes. He tried to change the subject by saying, "Do you like our costumes?"

"Well, they're okay," she said nonchalantly, bringing out a book from her bag. "Why does the teacher always assign you to read books?" she complained.

What did she mean by 'okay'? That compromised a third of the budget! Kyoya was about to open his mouth to protest, but realized that it would sound churlish if he did so. Trying to shrug it off, he turned back to his notebook and pretended to write some notes while listening to the conversation.

Hikaru seemed to be having the same thoughts as Kyoya. "Just okay?"

"It's not exactly spectacular or horrible, so it's okay," she replied. He could hear her pen moving on the paper as she said those words.

"I bet that you couldn't even make something like this," Hikaru fired back. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'd never give my name to strangers," the girl said. Kyoya could imagine her grinning wryly.

Hikaru exhaled a sigh. "I'm Hikaru Hitachiin. Karou's the one beside me. The one with glasses is Kyoya Otorii, and he's the vice president and one who manages the funds. Honey-senpai is the short one, Mori-senpai is the one near him. Satisfied?" He didn't say Tamaki's and Haruhi's name.

Karou hastily introduced the other two. "Tamaki Suoh's our leader, and the one who made this club," he added afterwards. "Haruhi Fujioka's the girl."

"You must have a bad fund-manager. Your costumes look too fancy for a one-time use. Wonder how much went to that?"

Now that was a dagger to the back. Kyoya almost felt like making another threat, but this wasn't the time to react.

"Probably more than your bag," Hikaru spat, like he had tasted something really sour. "How much did it cost? No wonder you wear the boy's uniform—you're too stupid to realize that only we wear that!"

"Will you just stop acting harsh?" Kyoya looked at the girl's defiant eyes. He could tell that she wasn't that annoyed, but slightly ticked-off. "If you want people to notice you so bad, you don't have to act that way," she said.

"Who said I was the one who was attention seeking?"

"I did?" she said tartly. She let out a raspy chuckle and went back to reading the book.

Kyoya didn't know whether to throw her out or to let the situation go on. The girl wasn't breaking any of the rules, but she was definitely turning off Hikaru's mood. He tried to meet Tamaki's glance, but he was busy chatting with the other girls, oblivious to what was happening. Desperate, he looked for Haruhi or even Mori-senpai, but they too had customers.

Karou was steadily growing uncomfortable with the situation, already fidgeting and rubbing his head sheepishly. "What did you say your name was?" he asked the girl.

"Jesse James."

"That isn't your name."

"How do you know?"

"Who would name their kid that?"

She smirked. From his angle, she almost looked devilish. "Caught me. Just call me Goto. Rin Goto to be precise, but it'll make everything easier."

"And you're starting to piss me off," Hikaru shot back. He was past the point of anger—he was furious. "Why don't you just go?"

"I would, but this place is quieter than the library, now that you think of it," Rin noted.

Karou sent his brother a look telling him to shut up. "Well," he said diplomatically, "it wouldn't make any sense for you to stay if you're not talking to any of the hosts, are you?"

Rin paused. For a moment, she seemed to be caught off-guard. "Well no, but—"

"So if you want to stay," Hikaru said, a demure look replacing the fury. "You might want to play a game."

"And it's…?"

The twins beamed simultaneously. "The 'Guess which is Hikaru Game'!"

"Okay," Rin replied quickly, "I'll play. I win, I stay. I lose, I'll leave. Deal?"

"Deal!"

The twins stood up together, hand-in-hand. Then, the same thing that Kyoya had seen for many months happen: they seemed to rotate as they spun around; the only sign of their individuality was their bells on their hat jingling madly. Rin closed her eyes, and didn't pay any attention to their movements.

Finally, they stopped, and faced Rin. "Which one is Hikaru?" They asked, their voices sounding like one.

"Um…the one on the right is Hikaru. Right?" Rin opened her brown eyes.

Silence.

Kyoya knew that it was one of those very rare moments where the customer was right.

"Wrong!" Hikaru cried, smiling jubilantly. "So go!"

"Um, Hikaru….?" Kaoru removed his hat, and placed it on the table, as if in shock. "She—"

"When you were talking earlier, I noticed that Hikaru's voice was a pitch lower than Kaoru's," Rin said smugly. "Plus, you had no time to switch appearances, so I counted the bells on your hat for good measure. Obviously, it didn't come to that, thank God—"

"Well, you're wrong." Hikaru's eyes glowed like a yellow flashlight piercing the darkness. "Go. Now."

Rin stuck out her tongue. "But I was right, so I stay."

"You weren't right!"

"Stop it, Hikaru," Haruhi called from her seat. Even if most people knew she was a girl now, that didn't stop the steady flow of customers that flew towards her simplicity. "She was right, and you know it. Stop acting childish."

Hikaru flinched. "What did you say again?" he asked, tone suddenly reverting to a few bars lower.

"I said you shouldn't act childish," Haruhi said. "Is there something wrong?"

Kyoya knew that she was right and had no ill intentions, but he really wished that he hadn't said that. Just as he predicted, fifteen milliseconds later, all hell broke loose.

"Childish? You think I'm childish?" Hikaru demanded. His scowl was so deep that Kyoya almost couldn't see his eyes.

"Huh?" Haruhi blinked.

"So you lied?" Rin appeared outraged. "You know one thing that's almost as bad as alcoholics? Liars." She stood up, her hands turned into fists. "I would seriously want to punch your face now, but it would leave a bad mark in my record. So I won't."

Kyoya decided this was the best time to intervene; the customers breaking apart from their hosts and turning to gaze at the scene. He also stood up, and faced Rin with a calm smile. "You are free to physically abuse him in any way you want. But I should warn you in advanced: if you do any damage to him, I will ask my friends to arrest you for foul play."

"I'm so scared. Not." Rin sneered. "If anyone should be going for foul play, it's him. He's one of the biggest jerks I've seen—"

"Does that include yourself?" Hikaru cut in snidely, thrusting all his frustration on her.

She put her fingers to her head, as if she was thinking. "Yeah. If you were on a list, I'd be five and you'd be number two."

"Hikaru-kun…" Honey-senpai's eyes looked like they were about to cry. "Please don't hurt Haruhi and Rin-chan!"

Rin seemed to soften a smidge as Honey talked. "You know what? It isn't worth it wasting my time on an idiot like you." She grabbed her bags and the brown notebook that he hadn't noticed until now. She glared at Hikaru which such ferocity that her brown eyes almost turned into dancing flames. "So goodbye—and I hope you die!" She paused. "But not your brother, he's alright."

With those words, she started to walk briskly towards the door, her haughty stare making others look away, embarrassed and scared at the same time. She shut the door with a slam.

When she was gone, Kyoya noticed that the twins seemed to be for a loss at words, especially Hikaru. The rest of the guests were shocked, nobody saying a word. But Tamaki's expression was the most different: amused, happy almost.

This was the part where he took charge. Putting on his calmest face, he dipped his head. "Let us return to the festivities, shall we?"

Eager for a change, everyone nodded and started uneasy chatter. Haruhi looked puzzled, like she was trying to solve a hard problem as she talked with the girls. Kyoya saw the twins shake their heads together, and sit back down in their places. Within seconds, a new batch of girls came in, squealing about the incident.

What had happened perplexed Kyoya greatly. First, the commoner had seemed rebellious, doing her best to get out. Once she had found her position she had reverted to sarcasm. The more that he pondered upon it, it was almost as if she was using her words as a shield.

He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was looking at him. No one in sight. He'd better make his move before all the rest came.

Slinking like a panther in the darkness, Kyoya slipped out of the room, closing the door as softly as he could. He scanned the hallway, trying to find the jet-black hair that Rin had. It was easy to find her, but her figure was almost like a small dot. He forced his pace to go faster, and he finally caught up to the girl. "Hello."

"Wha—" Rin jumped back, looking surprised from his presence. In a second she regained composure, lifting her eyes to meet his. "What do you want?" The way she said it was almost weary.

Kyoya smiled. Somehow, he knew what the most appropriate thing to say was this:

"Just wanted to know why you thought the Host Club was a tutoring club."

Rin blinked as her eyes widened. "What?" She stammered, face turning red. "I never said that—"

"Then you have no reason to blush," Kyoya said. "Or do you have like me?"

And those were the least appropriate words to say.

Her face now resembled a pack of furious hyenas. "Why would I ever like a bunch of bastards like you?" she hissed.

"I don't know."

"Argh! You are all the same!" Her face the same shade of a strawberry and a tomato, Rin turned away from him. She ran down the halls, her footsteps making echoes in the hallway. Kyoya just watched, smiling to himself.

"Idiot," he called, soft enough for only him to hear.

And with that, he went back in the Host Club, preparing for the rest of the day.


	2. 2 So, You Really Want To Play a Game?

**Sorry for the late update to those who are reading this! Please review, and thanks to the only person who reviewed XP If this needs improvements, please tell me!**

**Chapter Two**

**So, You Really Want to Play a Game?**

**Karou**

This was even worse than the day after Tamaki and Haruhi got together. On the second thought, no, it wasn't. This day and that day felt just the same, but they were both unbearable to the younger Hitachiin twin, who felt the brunt of the curse.

Yawning, Karou quickly ran down the stairs, already in his school uniform. It was earlier than what he was used to, but for some reason, he didn't really care about waking up an hour before the expected time. Well, maybe it was because of Hikaru's mood, which any sane person would avoid.

The reason why he was fuming was because of that Rin girl. Karou knew it would feel a lot easier to pin everything on her for the whole thing, but that would be unfair to himself and Hikaru. His brother's attitude these days was also to blame, but perhaps it was also Karou's fault. He should've stepped in before that had happened. But he knew there was nothing he could do about it now. As he entered the dining room and sat down on the nearest chair to eat some breakfast, he recalled the events that happened after Rin had left.

He remembered Hikaru standing for a few seconds, still staring at the door. After Kyoya had put on his trademark 'I'll-Make-Your-Life-Miserable-If-You-Don't-Obey' smile, Hikaru had shrugged it off and sat back on the couch, entertaining the next batch of fangirls. But as the two pretended to flirt and looked in each other's eyes for the next few hours, Karou instantly knew the minute he saw Hikaru's topaz-colored eyes that he did _not _just shrug it off. Instead, they resembled raging yellow firecrackers bursting on New Year's. Thankfully, the customers didn't seem to notice.

After the last giggling girl had exited the room, Kyoya had immediately opened his notebook. "Rin Gota," he had read, clearing his throat as he did so. "Age, fifteen. A scholarship student who originally came from Chiyoko High, but managed to get the second-highest score of all the applicants in the entrance exam. Before she transferred, she was the highest scorer in almost all of the tests last year in her school. Her mother apparently left when she was six, and her father's occupation is currently a worker in a construction company. Rin has a fiery temper, and apparently is easily agitated when challenged with competition. Likes are: studying, ramen, indie and classical music. Her dislikes range in many different varieties, but I can easily assure you that she hates spicy food and losing. Works in two places, a chef in a cosplay restaurant and in a grocery."

"Oh!" Honey exclaimed. "She must be really smart!"

"That is obvious enough." Kyoya shut his notebook with a _bang_. "By the way, I suggest that the Host Club doesn't interfere with her affairs anymore. I think that she has learned her lesson, and she would be a fool to come again."

"So that's it?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"Hikaru…" Karou began.

"There would be nothing to gain from attacking her, aside from your personal satisfaction," Kyoya said flatly. "If you wish to seek revenge—although I find this quite humorous—go ahead."

"You should probably leave her alone," Haruhi murmured. "I don't think that it's a big deal."

Hikaru blinked. Then, a ghost of a smirk flitted over his lips. "Whatever."

Karou knew that statement didn't mean anything when he said it. This was proven when they headed back home in the limo, and when Hikaru asked innocently, "Where did you put the superglue again?"

He groaned in response.

"Come on," Hikaru persisted. "It's also another chance to fool somebody again. We haven't done it for a long time, so it's a good opportunity to renew our skills—"

"You know, Ha—Kyoya's probably right," Karou said, catching himself just in time before uttering Haruhi's name. "It's not a big deal."

_Besides, I know why you're doing this, _were the words he wanted to say. _You're doing it because you're still angry at Haruhi. You still don't want to let go, even if you know and tell yourself that she never liked you _that_ way in the first place. But Rin isn't the right person to take it out on. She's . . . well, kind of stuck-up. Selfish. Uncaring, almost. Like you. _But still, whenever he tried to say it, he froze.

Hikaru plowed on, ignoring Karou's obvious hesitation. "Not a big deal? You wouldn't have said this before."

_You can be so thickheaded sometimes. _"That was before," Karou pointed out.

Hikaru shrugged nonchalantly as he turned to the window, his back against Karou. "There's always a now," he countered. "Besides, she's really annoying."

"I don't think she's annoying. Just really thickheaded."

"Has that ever stopped us from teasing Tono?" There was an edge of irony in his bitter tone.

He did have a valid point there. _Nothing _stopped them from teasing Tamaki.

"It's in our bathroom," Karou said wearily. "Third drawer, near the basin."

If this was the only way to make Hikaru stop the whole 'Destroy Gota' operation, he figured that it would be better to side with him in the process. With him there, at least he could stop Hikaru from asking a sniper to fire three bullets at Rin's head. Hopefully, the worst thing that could happen was Rin having her heart broken. Okay. Maybe that wasn't a good thing either. At least it was better than the other scenario. If things went the right way, maybe a few tricks with her would set Hikaru back in his normal mood. Besides, from what he had seen from Rin, she didn't seem like the type who would fall in love with any of the hosts, let alone a guy who had pissed her off.

As he took a bite of a croissant, he heard footsteps enter the room. "Oh," Hikaru said, slumping down on the seat next to Karou. "You're already up."

"Morning," Karou swallowed. "You too?"

"Just woke up," Hikaru said. "But I'm preparing for the operation today." He smirked. "It's been a long time. What has it been, three weeks?"

"Two and a half," Karou corrected. "You forgot the time when we threw Tamaki's shoes into the trash can."

"Right."

"So, what's your plan?" he asked curiously. Hikaru had never given him the details of the prank they were playing today. When they had entered the house, Hikaru stopped talking. Karou assumed that it was the best to do the same, so the entire night had been spent in silence. It had almost reminded him of the days before the Host Club, when they were bored of the whole world.

His brother simpered in reply. "You'll find out later," he said. "I'll tell you what to do later."

"Eh, come on! At least give me a hint."

"Super glue."

"That's it? And I'm your brother…"

"It's only a secret now. You're going to find out later."

But it was the first time that one of them had a secret and refused to tell the other. That fact only made Karou queasier, but he tried to jovially grin back.

**Rin**

Her footsteps almost made no sound as she quietly put one leg over the window. Well, if she had it her way, they would make no sound at all. She couldn't risk anything by waking Him up, and if He woke up when she was leaving, she was going to be late. It wasn't worth it to be held up and against her will.

The wind fluttered in small waves, casting a cool breeze. Even that couldn't take away the taste of alcohol and tobacco printed on her lips as she hung her mouth open for a few moments, hoping to get rid of the nasty blend. However, it wouldn't budge. She knew that it was better to buy mint or something spicy from the supermarket . . . but the funds for this month were running out. Rin was already running out of money thanks to the vodka He bought a few weeks ago, so she had to save up. Maybe she could work a couple more hours at Sweet? Or maybe He would get mad at her for being late again . . .

Trying to hide her brief lapse of fear, she blinked rapidly as she walked towards the bus station. Once she got farther away from the dingy apartments, she couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relief. At least that part of the day was over. Rin could worry about Him again when she went back home. She turned right, trying not to notice that she was still walking as fast as she could. _I'll just try to look for something from Dai's place, _she thought. _He'll probably understand._

A few minutes later, she was at the bus stop, her foot tapping impatiently. Just when she was debating whether to ask a ride from Dai or one of the members in his gang, the bus arrived, a trail of acrid smoke trailing obediently behind it. Wrinkling her nose, she stepped on the bus, and chose a seat near the front.

While waiting for her stop, she thought of her encounter with the Host Club yesterday. Rin didn't think that she had to worry about the other members. They didn't seem so bad—not even Hikaru, the boy who had gotten pretty annoyed at her because of her words didn't seem like a threat in her eyes. He was probably just some stuck-up rich kid. As for Glasses . . . he was the real deal. Although she had faked her nonchalant attitude yesterday, she did know the Ootorii name. When Clara would hang out in the employee's room to spy on the workers in the grocery store Rin worked in, she would always comment on how the Ootorii's were making life harder, since they were buying out almost all the other groceries in Japan.

"It's not only groceries, they're also in the medical field _and _the police system," she would complain, her clear American accent echoing inside the almost-empty staff room. "Pretty soon, they'll own the world! My Father does _not _approve of this."

She thought Clara was a paranoid, snobbish social-climber. But she did have some sort of reputation in _their_ world. She made a vow to ask Clara later on what else the Ootorii's did. She wouldn't want to stay in any place Kyoya had influence on. He'd probably . . . what did rich kids do with their rivals anyways? Exchanged brags on how powerful their parents were? Asked how many sport cars each one had?

_Well, my dad is the number one jerk in my head, but in reality he's a scumbag who'll never get anywhere. As for sport cars, eh, who needs it? You snobs need to walk! It's for free, and it does this great thing! It helps you lose calories! I know right, that's so cool!_

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice she was nearing her stop. Letting out a muffled curse, she quickly dashed out of the bus the moment the doors opened. As she leaped off the vehicle, her bag bumped against her waist, throwing her off-balance. Rin yelped as she fell right on the rough pavement, landing on her side. Just as that happened, the doors of the bus closed, and it sped off, sending the smoke right into her face.

Rin coughed madly. _That was just embarrassing, _she thought, doing her best to bring herself up on her knees, glaring at the fading form of the bus angrily. Obviously, this wasn't going to be her day. She really hated Fridays. They always made her feel the need to run through time, and set the pace of life to Saturday instead.

Well, she wasn't going to let that bring her down. Making sure there was nothing black on her face, Rin then stood up, dusting off rogue patches of ash on her pants. Today, she was going to live through a day with a bunch of rich bastards, learn a couple of things at school, ask Clara, the moronic 'Highness' who the hell the Ootorii's were, and try stay under the radar from Him when she went home.

Lovely.

She tried to forget about the whole incident as she walked to the school. As she got closer to it, she started to realize how absurd the color was with the bright pink; like a design of a dollhouse made for a little rich girl. She scoffed at the irony, and put on the usual bored, cold face that was almost a part of her. It always did its job: to keep others away.

Sure enough, it did its work. As she headed towards the classroom, people seemed to read her flint-filled eyes and gave her a small berth. She didn't want to attract much attention, but the more people learned to keep out of her way, the better. It would save a lot of trouble.

Rin entered the classroom and sat at her usual desk. It was almost time to start the class, and most of the students were already there, chatting and gossiping about the latest rumors. Knowing that it was too late to try to review her notes, Rin watched a group of girls. Their faces were bright and naïve, talking with their friends about makeup. She didn't even bother to fake that she had no idea what they were talking about with all the names they uttered. Finally, after a friendly argument about which brand was better, they moved on to a different topic that was still useless: their favorite brands of _shoes_. Rin had no idea whether to groan or to be envious that they could afford things like that.

"Oh, look. It's the commoner." Suddenly, Hikaru plopped down behind her, putting his things on the ground. He grinned lazily. "You're watching other people talk? It's quite pathetic."

His twin Karou sat on the seat next to him. He looked at Rin with an expression she couldn't read—apologetic perhaps? Guilt? Sarcasm? Nothing? Wow. He was definitely a different case from his twin.

Rin resisted the urge to snap back a retort that would probably tell him that _he_ was the one that was pathetic, wasting his time talking with her. Instead, she gritted her teeth together, and looked straight ahead. Rin muttered a curse under her breath, too soft for him to hear.

The stubborn old mule wouldn't give up. "You're friendless, aren't you? I never even noticed you until yesterday. I must admit though, your personality does pop out from a crowd. But still, other girls don't like you, do they?"

His words: fifty percent true. She didn't get along with most people, that was certain, but somehow, nice girls always seemed to flock to her. Maybe it was because they pitied her, or maybe it was because they were curious about her dry personality, but she welcomed it with half-open arms. Just because she kept her distance, it didn't mean that she wanted to be friendless. Early on in life, she had realized that nice people were one of the best type of friends—they didn't pry too much, didn't get upset if you were in a funk, nor did they talk about you behind your back. Personally, Rin liked it when a person was nice and quiet. If they rarely talked, there was a lesser chance of them hurting you in the end. The only exception to this rule was one of her old friends in school, Yuki, who was a friendly, outgoing brown-haired guy. He wasn't so bad . . . most of the time.

"Just leave me alone, okay?" Rin asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. Putting a bright smile on her face, she turned back. She wanted to keep things as diplomatic as possible; if she offended this guy, she had a chance of losing her scholarship. "Maybe what I did was a little rude, so I'm sorry."

Hikaru scoffed. "And you think I would give up the game just like that?"

"Well, I don't remember agreeing that there was a game in the first place."

He leaned closer, too close for comfort, now that she thought of it. "Game on."

The brunette looked at him in utter contempt. "What the hell do you want then?"

Before Hikaru could reply, the teacher came in the door. Not wanting to get caught, Rin abruptly swerved her head away from the twins' direction. She could hear their barely muffled snickers echoing behind her. Her hands started to clench together.

Suddenly, another person stepped into the room. Murmuring a hasty apology to the sensei, Haruhi went over to her seat. She set herself beside Karou.

"What held you up?" Rin heard Karou (or maybe Hikaru? She still wasn't a hundred percent sure which was which when she couldn't see their faces) ask. "You're normally earlier than us."

"I overslept," Haruhi whispered, as the teacher began his lecture. "I was studying late last night and Dad left early, so it was quiet." She sighed. "Thank God it's almost the weekend."

Well, Karou and Haruhi seemed normal. It was only Hikaru that was causing all this trouble. She didn't think that he would settle down if she talked, which was proven earlier. Rin wasn't going to beg him to stop either. She still had some pride within her, especially when it came to rich, noses-held-in-air-too-much kind of guys. Which meant that there was no other way to deal with him than to teach him a lesson.

For the first time in months, Rin grinned. Pretending to take down notes, she jotted down ideas in her notebook. Her and her friends were notorious for this kind of thing. Now, what would it be this time . . . Operation Chimera, or Plan A?

Plan A was so, so much fun.

**Karou**

[Taken from the passed notes of Operative H and Operative K. Distributed during Japanese class. Highly classified - show at your own risk.]

_So, at lunch, I wanted you to distract her._

Huh? Who?

_Rin Gota! Who else?_

Well, there are other people that you would've wanted be to distract… :D

_… :/ but seriously…_

Why would I do it if you won't even tell me what's going on?

_Surprises are a lot better._

Not for me.

_Well, for me anyways. If you won't do it, I'll ask Honey-senpai or Mori-senpai. _

They wouldn't do it if they knew what you were up to.

_…please?_

Fine. *sigh* As your younger brother, I'll do it.

_;) Lol, sensei's noticing us. Eat the message or something so he won't notice._

**Rin**

If she wanted to be a referee in one of those American wrestling shows, this would've been the time she would say, "Let's get ready to rumble!" Unfortunately, since Rin had no interest in watching men trying to topple each other over, she didn't say it aloud.

Her mind was already prepared for the launch against the two Hitachiin twins. Rin had found a way to make it look like she hadn't done it, and a way to pull it off in a place like this. Unfortunately, she didn't have the items yet. But still, an idea was better than none, especially with the details written down in her black notebook when the sensei gave them a couple of extra minutes for their own use.

Feeling relaxed, Rin sat herself at an empty table. It was lunchtime, and as the students came in and out of the cafeteria; the smell of mouth-watering dishes made her want to scream and lunge for the food as they dumped their half-eaten remains into the trash can. Sheesh. She would've killed somebody to have a taste of the duck that smelled like toasted honey and fresh lemons.

Rin glared almost angrily at the small container of instant ramen in her hands. "Isn't this school supposed to give you free lunch or something?" she demanded, still staring at her home-packed lunch. "You still have to pay?"

"You know," an amused voice said behind her, "I don't think that it's a good thing to talk to food."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Oh," she replied dismissively, not bothering to look back "You."

"Which one?" Karou asked. She could almost hear the smirk in his voice as he sat himself across from her.

"Karou," Rin answered, half-guessing. "Your voice is lighter than your brother's."

"You know, you're the second person to figure that out."

"Hooray." Her voice dripped with thinly veiled sarcasm. Rin had nothing against him, but somehow, it felt kind of weird that Hikaru wasn't with him. So that's exactly why she asked: "Where's that jerk of a brother of yours?"

Karou's shoulders stiffened at the mention of the word 'jerk'. "Actually," he began, "he's not so bad once you get to know him—"

She coughed.

"Okay, maybe half of the time we _are _jerks," Karou amended.

"Knew it." Rin smirked.

For a brief moment, they almost seemed like friends. Rin caught herself enjoying the whole exchange, which was really weird, since she didn't expect to hate Karou, yet she didn't expect to become buddies with him either. She would've thought that the same thing went down with him.

It was rather suspicious. "What are you doing here?" she snapped, tone suddenly reverting to her natural, harsh one. "Aren't you supposed to be eating lunch or flirting with him anyways?"

He shrugged. "Well, maybe I decided not to eat lunch. Maybe I decided not to eat with him. That's normal, isn't it?"

Drat. He did have a point there. What was wrong with her? She wasn't this judgmental before. "I have all rights to be paranoid."

"And why is that?"

Rin didn't say anything. Instead, she gestured to the mob of girls behind them who seemed like they were going to explode anytime with a flick of her head. If this was an anime, fire would be raging in the corner. It was rather amusing yet at the same time disconcerting that she was attracting this much attention talking to a guy.

"Oh." The corner of Karou's mouth twitched upwards, as if he was going to burst in to a fit of laughter in any second. "That."

She chuckled. "I don't get it why the Host Club is so popular in the first place. So aside from talking to them . . . what else do you do?"

"I think that's the main point of the whole club."

"You aren't serious. Right?"

"Well, it depends who you ask. It was all Tamaki and Kyoya's idea. If you really want to know, ask them why this idea's so popular."

Rin shuddered. "No way am I touching either of the two without a ten-foot pole."

"Are you scared?" Karou teased.

She rolled her eyes, faking an icy wall. "Not really. But since all of you in the club seem like a bunch of idiots, I don't think that I want to risk getting infected."

"That's us. The Idiot Club—a place where we manage to gain a lot of customers. I wonder how we do that . . . ?"

"So you are capable of sarcasm," Rin noted. "So you _are_ somewhat like your brother."

"What was your first clue?" She couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"Technically, your comments have the same subtext, except that you say it nicely and Hikaru comes off as a grade-A asshole—pardon my language." Deciding that it would be better to stop her ramen from going colder than it already was, she took a small bite.

"So . . . 'grade-A asshole'. That's what you think of me."

"Hey, Hikaru," Karou said. Again, there was no detecting whether he was excited or disappointed in his tone. Jeez, this guy was pretty weird.

A bit surprised, Rin turned back to see Hikaru beside Karou, somehow looking casual with the way he leaned himself against the chair. The brunette's mind raced quickly. _I knew it. They _were _planning something. But what was it? Could Karou be…?_

"That's my first nickname. I have a whole bunch of them under my sleeve," Rin continued calmly, the sarcasm as clear as day. "There's 'Idiot', 'Rich Bastard', 'Kid-Who-Relies-On-Parent's-Cash-To-Get-Here'—"

"We're both fifth and fourth in the whole batch," Hikaru interrupted. "What were you?"

"Number one," Rin retorted. _Beat that. _

The redhead shrugged. "Big deal. Ouran's a lot harder than stupid public school education. How do you think you're going to get number one this time?"

"Easy: because I bother to study."

"Bothering won't help you this time." Hikaru smirked.

"You're _really _a jerk, you know?" Rin hissed. "I bet that's why you don't even have a girlfriend."

"Um, we should be going now…" Karou began, but it was too late. Hikaru had already shot back, "I don't see _you _having a boyfriend either."

"That's because I don't bother having one!"

"This is probably the moment where I should be saying that we're even, but then again there's no way that I would reach to your level."

Rin grinned. "You mean that I'm higher than you?"

"I think I mean the other way around," Hikaru replied darkly.

"Instead of insulting me, why don't you just leave me alone?" Rin snapped. "I don't want to be seen talking with someone like you."

"And you said that I'm the snob." Hikaru smiled cockily as he stood up and nodded at Karou. "Come on. Let's go. There's no way that she'll ever amount to anything in this place."

Rin bristled, but willed herself to keep calm. There was no need to lash out when she was arguing with a rich bastard. She caught Karou's apologetic stare, but she averted her gaze. Not bothering to say goodbye, she took a bite of her ice-cold ramen. It wasn't the way she liked it, but it was better than nothing.

As she ate, her head was filled with murderous thoughts. Why did Hikaru have to ruin everything? It wasn't fair! If it weren't for him, she might've been able to enjoy this school, however so slightly. She might've been able to befriend Karou or somebody else, but he always seemed to jump into every situation, which was more than annoying in her book, even if they had only met for a couple of minutes. Moments like these were rare for her.

_Why am I worrying about him in the first place?_ Rin tried to figure out the reason. When her mind tried to delve into the idea, all she got was a blank mist. Nada, zilch—nothing. She frowned. This was a bit strange. So she was fighting and wasting her time with a senseless, idiotic, rich jerk and she had no reason to do it?

He was really going to pay.

Although Rin wasn't a fan of Math, it wasn't like she was prepared to fall asleep. Resisting a yawn that threatened to escape her lips, she tried her best to stay awake. She was pretty tired, thanks to the late hour she had finally fallen asleep at.

The teacher looked up from his equations written on the blackboard to the sea of half-listening students. "Please open your books to page fifty-three," the teacher said. Rin liked him. He wasn't overly strict like the ones in her old school, and he made Advanced Math somewhat bearable.

Forcing herself to pull the book out of her bag, Rin put it on the desk. She opened the book.

The only problem? The book wouldn't open.

This was strange. Rin raised an eyebrow as she tried to pry the book open with one hand. Nothing. It was as if something had stuck all the pages together. Getting frustrated, she put one hand at the back of the book and made another attempt to open it with all the strength she had. It still wouldn't budge. Rin gritted her teeth together.

"Gota-san, are you alright?" the teacher asked.

"Um, yeah," Rin muttered, feeling the weight of all her classmate's eyes on her. Each of their books was wide open, on the exact same page. "It's just that my book won't open . . ."

He frowned. "Really?"

A blush rose to her face. If there was an embarrassment meter in some unknown dimension, the amount she was feeling now would probably make it burst. "Yeah." From the corner of her eye, she caught four or five students chuckling.

One of them was Hikaru Hitachiin.

_He's behind this, _Rin thought angrily as the sensei strode over to her spot to check the problem out. _I knew it! He was probably asking Karou to talk to me or something like that so he would do the thing he did to the books while I was distracted. _Baka! _This time, I am REALLY going to kill him! This is the worst time ever!_

**Lips pressed against her own. The taste that refused to get off her tongue. The way He acted like He knew everything about her. Like He was her god, and she was just another pawn. He pressed further, muttering drunken words that she didn't want to hear, hands trailing down her—**

**It was too hot. So unbearably hot and agonizing. Scream, scream! Get out of there—no—don't show weakness. It'll hurt even more. She knew the pain would increase if she resisted, so she didn't. Didn't do anything. For now.**

**But she couldn't do anything, could she?**

No, this wasn't the worst time ever. Caught off-guard for a second, there was some fear in her eyes as bright as day. Rin wanted to just melt away thinking of that. She then remembered that she wasn't alone, so she forced herself to turn back to her Ice Queen mode, winter forever frozen in her brown discs.

The sensei picked up the book and tried to open it. Just like what happened to Rin, nothing happened. "Hm . . . this is strange . . ." He brought the book closer to his nose and sniffed it. "Did you put anything inside?"

"No," Rin replied.

The teacher turned to the rest of the students. "Either she's lying, or one of you students did it. I don't think that it's the first one. Class, if you know anything about who did this, please stand up and share with us what you know. "

Silence. Nobody stood. Rin felt like screaming and wringing Hikaru's neck.

He sighed. "If nobody stands up, I'll have to tell this to the chairman."

Nothing. The class simply stared at him, looking as confused as ever. Even that redhead jerk looked bewildered, although she doubted that his actions were legitimate.

"You could use the extra books by the closet." The sensei sighed again. "I'm so sorry that this happened."

"No problem. It's okay," Rin lied. She should earn a medal for this.

As she padded over to the closet to collect the books, her mind was reeling from Hikaru's actions. Was he really that mad at her that he'd glue all the pages of her book together? Who knew with people like them?

Not only was that issue worrying her, she was also concerned about her studies. How was she supposed to review nightly when she had no books to begin with? She knew that these books were only to be leant to her during school hours. There was no way she would be able to cram for the quizzes and oral tests during recess and lunch. Her study methods were extreme to begin with.

Her grip harder on the books than ever, she sat back at her desk, not bothering to disguise the fury that was burning in her eyes. _Instead of having one big problem, I have other things to solve? I. Hate. This. Place._

When the teacher wasn't looking, immediately, she ripped out a piece from her notebook. She scribbled down two words, and wordlessly passed it on to Hikaru without looking back.

She wouldn't need to look back to know that the cocky redhead smirked and chuckled when he read the two words on the paper that covered the entire piece.

_Game on._

Plan A without a doubt. There would be no qualms in her head as she launched the next move on Hikaru Hitachiin: grade-A asshole.


	3. 3 Mushroom Kings and Devil Princes

_Hey guys! :D What's up? Well, the ceiling/sky, of course. Well, I'm going to make this short: if you like it, favourite or story-alert it. If you love it and want me to improve or force me to update quickly, review it XP. Seriously, although this may sound a little egotistical, reviews make my day and send me humming on the way to school! I love hearing what people think. And, oh, if you have any ideas for pranks, message me! Who knows? Maybe Hikaru or Rin might use them . . . *winks* Ciao! BTW, does anyone know a way for line breaks? Whenever I use solo ~'s, it doesn't show up . . . :/_

**Chapter Three**

**Mushroom Kings, Devil Princes, and the Minstrels of Bewilderment**

**Hikaru**

If you happened to ask any member of the Host Club that hated Rin Gota more than hate itself, Hikaru Hitachiin would probably the first in the list, and break the world record of hate that even existed in the first place. But if you asked him what amused him the most these days, his answer would surprise even the smartest of all people—well, saving Kyoya, who had the intuition of a damned woman.

"So, Karou, what do you these days?" a girl asked. Hikaru had forgotten her name—Asa, or something like that? All he knew that it started with the letter A. "Anything that amuses you?"

His twin shrugged casually. "I don't really do that much alone. I always go with Hika-chan, because he always knows what to do."

_God_. This day was so predictable. Say a corny line, Karou would reply, just say something romantic back, and then pull faces closer while waiting for Karou to say "Hikaru—". Cue the nose-bleeding, the squealing, and the occasional incident of an unfortunate girl fainting. Of course, Kyoya would take care of her, since there couldn't be any mistakes under his watch recorded in his blasted black notebook . . .

". . . Hikaru, are you alright?" Another girl tapped him on the shoulder. "Or are you Karou-chan?"

"No, you idiot," Asa chided. "That's Hikaru-chan, of course! Karou just said his lines."

"Oh, yeah!" The girl put a palm to her face, clearly embarrassed. "Sorry! I always get you two mixed-up. You're so identical that it makes my head spin!" She chuckled nervously.

Great. Even they noticed. Fixing a coy smile on his face, he beamed back at the now blushing two. "No, it's no problem. I'm just a bit tired, since Karou kept me up all night," he lied fluently, as if the art of deception had been his first language.

"You should've told me!" In an instant, Karou's expression shifted to a face a guilty murderer would have. "I said if you didn't want to we could stop, but why do you do those things if it ruins your health? I can't let that happen!"

"It's alright, Karou." He cupped Karou's cheeks, pulling him closer to himself. "I'd do anything for you. You're the only one I live for."

"Hikaru—"

Asa squealed, as the predicted amount of blood poured out of her nostrils. Meanwhile, her companion simply sighed in delight, and then promptly crashed onto the floor. Hikaru noticed from the corner of his eye that Kyoya was typing a number into his cell-phone, mostly likely calling the nurse to send somebody to pick her up.

A few seconds earlier than the expected time, Hikaru removed his hand and stopped looking at Karou, pointedly turning his head away. The act was over anyways, and, it was getting boring to pretend that he had any romantic intentions with his brother. _Really _boring. Why weren't they doing something better, like their glory days? There had been around twenty confession letters in his locker earlier. Twenty girls they could have fun with rejecting, and twenty times more fun than watching girls swoon over the two.

"Please also fetch Miss Ayama please," Kyoya spoke to the phone. "I'm afraid she may suffer from blood loss in any moment if no help arrives. Yes, thank you. I really appreciate your cooperation."

"Hey, Karou," Hikaru whispered, right after the two girls were escorted by a buff man to the nurse's room. "Do you want to ditch the rest of the club? We have no customers left, so we could probably head back home and do something else. How about try that new video game the fat lady gave us?"

"Eh?" Karou raised an eyebrow in response. "But we always stay behind until everyone's done."

"Aren't you bored with this routine?" Hikaru questioned. "I sure am."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. How could he not know this? "Play nice with everyone. Go to Host Club. Flirt with each other. Watch other girls almost die for weird reasons. Go home. Wash, rinse, and repeat. It's getting tiring. Don't tell me to get another toy—the last one was broken, and had no use."

Hikaru wasn't so sure if he saw agreement or a glittering spark in his brother's eyes. "There are other, newgirls that transferred," Karou reminded him. "_New _girls."

"Are you suggesting the Gota girl?" Hikaru snickered. "She hates both of us."

"Wouldn't that make the challenge more fun than just pranking and annoying her?" Karou persisted. "Think about it. If she ends up falling in love with you, at least you can taunt her in the last round."

"What's the use in trying to woo her?" Hikaru grinned devilishly. "No one can resist the Hitachiin charm, even if they're doing something unsuited to their tastes. I bet she'll fall for me anyway, even if I don't try."

Although this kind of exchange was normal, something about his brother's words nagged a corner of his mind. Why would Karou be so worried about Rin in the first place? She was nothing to them. A commoner; a girl missing the ability to keep her mouth shut. Sure, maybe she had the potential to be pretty—if she bothered letting her hair down and fixing the wrinkles in her clothes—and had a fiery attitude: the perfect one for a toy. Well, Karou _could_ be pretty simple-minded at times . . .

"Do you like Rin?"

"What?" Karou choked. A look of bewilderment crossed his face. "Where did you get thatidea?"

"Of course! It makes perfect sense!" Suddenly, Renge appeared out of nowhere, with a big, cheesy grin. She propped herself between the twins, her eyes somehow looking sly and carefree at the same time. "I get it now!" she cackled evilly. "Karou is trying to protect Rin!"

"Where's your revolving-machine thingy?" the two asked in unison. Even in the middle of a commoner crisis, they were still as conjoined as ever.

Renge's expression fell. "The gears and the wires got twisted. Daddy said he would send somebody to repair it today, but the repairman hasn't come yet. Anyways—let's get to the real problem: LOVE!" Her face brightened considerably after saying that. "Does Karou-chan like the new commoner?"

"No," was his quick response.

"Come on," Renge pressed. "Just say you do, and don't worry, we won't get mad!"

Hikaru knew she meant it. But that didn't mean she wouldn't start ranting and squealing about it. They weren't stupid—Renge had been here for quite awhile by now.

Karou's sweat dropped, obviously getting a bit annoyed. "She's not my type—"

"—so you're gay?"

"Of course not!" If it was possible, Karou looked more taken aback. "I told you, she's not my type!"

"What's going on?" Honey asked, with Mori trailing behind him as always. Half a slice of chocolate cake was on a plate in his hands, and he took another bite of the pastry, continuing, "I heard Karou yelling. Did Hikaru scare you with a ghost tale or something?" He shuddered as he swallowed. "Hikaru-kun can be so creepy when he wants to be! One time, he told me a ghost story about a bloody lady, and I had nightmares for three days! Right, Mori-chan?"

"Yes," the senpai answered in his usual flat tone.

"Nothing major," Hikaru replied cheerfully, unable to resist himself from taking the opportunity to do something mean aside from 'the commoner' or Tono, while Renge eyed the blonde senior shrewdly. "We're just debating the statistics on whether my brother is straight or not. So far, the latter is winning, with a total of two votes. Care to chip in your thoughts?"

"I told you, I'm not gay!" The last word was practically screamed. "Since when did this come up in the first place?"

"Denial." Renge nodded. "One sign."

Honey scrunched up his eyebrows. "Well . . ." he began. "If he says he's not, I don't think he is. Karou-chan is usually open about these kinds of things."

"Thank you, Honey-senpai," Karou said gratefully. "Thanks a lot—"

"Wait." A girl who was currently designated with Tamaki stood up, facing the two siblings with a confused frown. "So if you're not gay, that means you aren't in love with Hikaru?"

_Oh, great . . . _Hikaru looked back furtively to check if Kyoya was there. Unfortunately, the vice president was sitting on the couch, pretending to type something in his laptop. No one else except for Hikaru could notice the cold, steely glare Kyoya gave to his direction. _Fix this,_ his eyes said darkly, before returning to whatever he was doing.

Nobody liked it when Mommy was upset. Just before Karou could open his mouth to mutter something, Hikaru jumped in to avoid the wrath of the Shadow King. "Karou doesn't like other guys because he only likes me," said the redhead, turning to his twin. "Right . . . my love?"

"Hikaru—" Karou mouthed, just as Hikaru drew him closer.

"KYA!" squealed the girls in delight, even the ones who didn't designate the twins in the first place. This time, more than a couple of girls fainted. The nurse's office was going to have a field day. As he 'remained in position' for a few more minutes, he caught Kyoya raising his eyebrows in approval, before dialling something in his cellphone again.

As they remained in position for a few more seconds, gazing into each other's eyes, Hikaru wondered vaguely why the customers liked these kinds of things. Was it because they were bored, or were they minions-in-training of Renge? Hikaru liked to think it was a mixture of the two, although he didn't need an encyclopedia to tell him his answers were utterly false.

Before he knew it, the day was over in a blink. Suddenly, he realized in a daze he was sitting on a couch, a cup of jasmine tea in his hands. He remembered Karou and he had decided to stay, so they wouldn't upset Kyoya more than they already had. Renge had already vanished an hour ago, rushing towards her limo when it was announced her contraption-revolving-thing was ready. Hikaru sat up straighter, trying to get a current grasp of his situation. Spazzing out didn't happen often, but once in a blue moon, it occurred, with only his brother noticing.

From what was going on, Hikaru gathered they were talking about the next theme for the club. Since the materials for the Arabian cosplay was going to be delayed a bit due to bad weather conditions from the usual supplier, they had to quickly decide on a costume idea for the next week. With a half-day tomorrow and a Sunday ahead of them, they had plenty of time to prepare something else.

"I say we dress Haruhi in a cute dress for the next event!" Tamaki squealed. "I bet she'll look so—"

"No way in hell, sensei," Haruhi deadpanned.

Kyoya shot the King a look. "Tamaki, we already talked about this." He turned his eyes to the twins, pushing up his glasses. "By the way, good job handling yourselves there," he said off-handily. "But next time, keep yourselves in check, okay? If not . . . we're going to have a bit of trouble."

"Yes," Karou responded, angling his head to Haruhi, who was right next to him. "Although I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see Haruhi in a dress again—"

"You shall not harm my daughter!" Tamaki screeched. "I don't trust her with you two, malicious twins! Kyo_ya_, make them stop!"

It was kind of weird how Tamaki's words were wrong. Only one of them was teasing her. Hikaru looked at his fingernails, checking for dirt. He didn't give a damn about the two anymore—in his head, especially that brunette, as they were old news. They were both unneeded toys, tossed away in search of something more pleasing.

"You're over-exaggerating," Haruhi said dully. "It's not a big deal."

"_Not a big deal_?" The King's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head at any moment. "They could take your everything! Your house, your money, your life, your—"

"Shut up."

Tamaki spent the rest of the period cultivating a patch of mushrooms at the corner.

Hikaru snickered loudly, quite amused at the Frenchman's actions. If he was so dense, then why did she even like him? Life was one big mystery. Out of nowhere, Karou turned to him, looking a bit exasperated as he met his eyes. Weird. What was going on with him these days? Was Rin really the culprit, or was it something or somebody else?

"Now that's over," Kyoya said, seemingly indifferent to the change in his closest friend, "any ideas? We're running out of time here."

"What about butlers and maids?" Honey jumped in eagerly. "That way, we could have more fun and food to have!"

"Last resort," Kyoya said. "Have you ever heard of a suitable caterer willing to prepare some desserts for only two days on a minimum wage? Next."

"_Nekomimi_?" Hikaru and Karou offered, more for the sake of suggesting than looking for good ideas.

"Emperors?" Haruhi asked.

It seemed like the Shadow King's patience had run out by the time those two words were offered. He inhaled a sharp breath. Exasperation as clear as crystal in his eyes, he tapped his pen on the laptop agitatedly. "No and no."

"Well, what can you suggest then?" Karou asked. "You keep on turning down our ideas, so you might as well offer something up. With the exception of Mori, of course. He doesn't really—"

Suddenly, a deep, dark sound came from Mori's mouth. "Animals," he said with a blink.

It was like a thousand light bulbs had summoned Tamaki back to reality as he jolted backwards, his head hitting the wall. "Ja!" the blonde crowed, oblivious to the giant bruise on top of his head. "I have come up with the best idea in the world—dressing up into animals!"

No other silence was as loud as the one residing in the Host Club as their eyes turned into shards of glass, slicing and cutting him down—except for Honey, who was just pouting due his idea getting rejected. The King widened his eyes, scared, and shrank deeper into the corner of the corner.

"Well," Haruhi began, "that was a pretty decent idea." She smiled at Mori. "Nice!"

"That is certainly profitable," Kyoya could be heard murmuring, just as Tamaki started wailing something about his girlfriend not paying attention to him. "I agree."

Honey let out a grin of approval. "I'm okay with it, if Kyoya agrees."

As the twins raised their hands and said, "Sure", Mori nodded. Karou looked at Tamaki. "You, _Tono_?"

"Or are you too busy right now?" Hikaru asked. "You know, I could always—"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Tamaki screamed. "MOMMY! SAVE ME!"

Yeah, this was a barrel's worth of laughter.

"You're old enough to handle yourself." Kyoya turned away from Tamaki and faced the others. "Send emails to the twins if you want to claim a certain costume as usual. If you want to go, then do it now." He didn't even bother adding anything else. It was typical of Kyoya—he always got straight to the point.

With a cheerful promise to bring some cake for the next meeting and a wave, Honey left the room, on top of unsmiling Mori's shoulders. Haruhi immediately dashed towards the door, yelling something about meeting her cousin—although Hikaru didn't really care much on what she said or did—with a suddenly cheerful Tamaki following her steps.

Before Hikaru and Karou could go out too, Kyoya put a hand on Karou's shoulder. "I need you here for a moment," he said. "Hikaru, go ahead."

Hikaru knew there had to be something more to that. "What, you two're going to go make out in the corner?" He sneered.

"Although _yaoi_ funds ten-percent our club, no, I'm not interested in that type of relationship with your brother or any man," Kyoya replied bluntly. "Now, go."

Honestly, he didn't really care at all. Karou and he had always told each other everything, even if they didn't want to hear it, like the time Karou told Hikaru about Haruhi's first date with Tamaki happening at some commoner's fast-food place, and when Hikaru told Karou in return he was wearing the school uniform when there were no classes. So as shrugged again and said, "I'll meet you at the limo," to Karou, he sped off, feeling the bewildered gaze of Karou press against Kyoya and himself.

As he climbed down the stairs, smiling at a clan of girls who were huddled like a pack of wolves, he realized it was a bit weird not having Karou at his side right now. These days, it seemed like his brother was trying to stay with him at all time, as if he had to cling on to him forever, and questioning every single thing he did. Hikaru wondered what had happened to him. They weren't doing anything illegal or questionable, and nor were they making fun of someone—saving Gota, of course. Then what was his deal?

_It's probably nothing, _Hikaru thought. _Karou's strange from time to time. If anything abnormal's going on, it's most likely someone cloned him or whatever, like in that movie._

And there he walked off, without a single other thought—well, at least until at least a foot stuck out of nowhere.

Although that was quite unexpected, he was used to it thanks to the pranks he and his twin had played on past maids. Hikaru nimbly jumped over, grinning wildly as he saw Rin's face coated with frustration. "What, peasant?" he quipped. "That's the prank you were planning to do?"

To her credit, she managed to get rid of her anger pretty quickly. "'Course not," she said darkly. "I have something better in store."

Hikaru almost felt like laughing at her cheesy words. Who was she, to think she could try and play with the devil? It was like watching a mouse ask a cheetah to a brawl: an instant invitation to suicide. "What's next? You're planning to glue me to a wall? Face it, this attempt was somewhat decent, but still a big fail. If you don't think you can play some more, I suggest you walk away. Now," he taunted, purposely dangling a tempting bait.

"You think I would just back away from a challenge?" Rin barked. Just what he had expected.

"Excellent. Now, question time: you like me, don't you?"

Admittedly, her answer shocked him slightly.

"_What_?" Rin looked up with him with utter bewilderment. "Why the hell would you think I would like some guy who tried to make my life miserable _and_ glued all my textbooks together? Do you even know how much one even costs? Like, a million yen!"

Hikaru didn't say anything for a moment, jaw hanging wide. "Eh?"

"To get into the number position, it requires months of hard training!" Rin ranted, not finished yet. "How am I supposed to do that on the weekends when I don't have anything to look for reference? Some of my notes were written in the book, you idiot! Now thanks to you, my rank will drop by two points!"

"If your rank drops, that's because you're not good enough," Hikaru interjected, finally getting over his initial shock. She was probably bluffing . . . right? "I can ace any exam without studying."

"But I don't see the number one sign hanging over your head." She smirked.

"That's because I choose not to be number one."

"Maybe that's because you're just an idiot!" Before Rin could say anything else, the giant clock chimed, signalling it was three pm. Her face crumpled to red. "Crap, I have a shift in thirty minutes!" After letting out a stream of curses she looked up to Hikaru balefully. "Just watch your back, okay . . . Hitachiin-san?" The honorific was spat out like the word was vile. "I would be careful if I were you."

Wow. She _was_ stupid. "You're the one with the scholarship. I'd watch your back if I were you. Later, Rin." Before he could let her have the last insult—using her name without an honorific could probably piss her off enough—he brushed passed her, heading towards the exit. He could wait for Karou in the limo—

_Crash!_

Suddenly, Hikaru found himself stumbling to the ground. For a second he thought he was going to crash to the ground, but as if the Fates had other plans, his arms instantly lunged for the pillar in front of him. Hikaru managed to stop himself from hitting the ground, but anything left from his newfound relief vanished when he heard Rin's evil cackle.

"Was that your big plan?" Hikaru said dryly, forcing the rest of his emotions away. "Wow. I was sobbing with fear."

"Y-you know that prank was awesome, and you fell for it," Rin said between choked giggles, not bothering to cover her mouth. Her brown hair bounced up and down like cascades of water as her shoulders jittered violently. "I knew that something like this would happen, so I just asked what time you usually finished from the rest of your fan club. You finished later than usual though without Karou, so I had to distract you for a couple of seconds to decrease suspicion. And no, that's—that's not all of it."

"And it looks like the book prank was only the beginning."

"Yeah. Ready to back down yet?"

Hikaru smiled angelically. "Nope."

Rin saluted mockingly. "Then worst of luck to you, Hitachiin." With her wry grin and posture, she almost looked kind of cute like she wasn't that ugly.

"Worst of luck too. So, did you happen to leave any more traps ahead? I really don't want to risk my new jeans getting dirty."

Rin put her hands into her pockets. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. "Traps? I'm just innocent girl being attacked by some idiot devil."

**Karou**

He felt really, really awkward being alone with the Shadow King. And it wasn't just because they were the sixth-most desirable pairing according to fan polls. Maybe that contributed to the weirdness, but—eh, what was he even _thinking_? Was Renge's fangirl tendencies starting to grow on him, or—

"Karou, are you still listening?" said Kyoya.

"Ah, sorry," Karou replied, now looking back to the dark-haired boy. "I was just wondering about Hikaru."

"That is the thing I want to talk to you about," Kyoya said abruptly. "Make him stay away from the Gota girl."

Karou blinked once. "Eh?"

"Hikaru. Force him to stay away. From Rin Gota," Kyoya added emphasis to each word. "Would you need me to translate that in English or German?"

"_Nein_," Karou said hastily, head spinning slightly. What were his reasons for doing this, and why was he doing this in the first place? He decided to voice his concerns aloud.

Kyoya smiled—the kind of bright, sunny smile he reserved for occasions whenever he was annoyed. "First of all, although he's managing to cover it up decently in front of the other customers, one day, he'll mess if this goes on, which shall damper profits by approximately twenty-three percent. I am also sure that you may be able to coax Hikaru out of his mood, given the right conditions. Finally, there is no use wasting time pulling whatever tricks on Gota. Although it might add some extra gossip and rooting amongst the customers, it will get old sooner or later, and unwanted attention may be directed towards the club. Besides, I don't see any advantages coming out from petty battles with a scholarship student."

How did he manage to say that in almost one breath? "You planned this all out, didn't you?" Karou facepalmed. "Can't you just let this pass for a few days?"

Kyoya scribbled something on a stray clipboard. "Why should I do that?" he asked, not looking up.

"Because unlike you, surprisingly, I don't have the ability to think of flawless plans in seconds?" He sighed. "I supposed you won't just give me the solution right away, won't you?"

"I'd be willing to exchange a bargain if the both of you gave another ten extra hours," Kyoya said immediately.

"Not happening," Karou shot back, almost as quick as Kyoya's response. "So, I have to . . . make him stay away from Rin?" He held his hands up in the air when Kyoya looked at him. "Okay, okay! Don't worry, I've got it."

He had no freaking clue what he was going to do. While he did agree with Kyoya's points, privately, he thought there was no other way Hikaru was going to fully get over Haruhi without something distracting him. Rin was that distraction, not to mention one that wouldn't get damaged easily. If he followed Kyoya's words, there was a chance that Hikaru would permanently turn into that 'grade-A asshole'. On the other hand, if he went against Kyoya . . . Karou shivered at the memory of the Demon King's eyes. Karou was as lost as a lamb sheep.

Although there was something that Karou couldn't catch in Kyoya's eyes—and he didn't dare to dig in deeper in fear—he shrugged, 'carefree' smile vanishing. "Try to make them stop by the end of the week. From what I've seen and heard from Gota so far, she'll make a small attack either by this afternoon or early morning. Depending on who's the most idiotic, one will strike first, and they'll be the talk of the academy. Try to get on both sides. Remember: you may have loyalties for your brother, but this'll be good for both of them. Get it?"

Karou nodded. Then, he realized what Kyoya had just said. "What'll benefit Rin?" he asked, brows narrowing in bewilderment. "She seems fine with the whole thing, save the fact that she blew a casket when we pulled the other prank on her earlier. She'd be almost in the same boat, with or without the Host Club."

"She has other issues going on," Kyoya answered. "Surely you don't expect one's life to revolve around the academy always, yes?"

He was hiding something about Rin. Technically, it wasn't exactly hiding—Kyoya never just disclosed details about things he thought were irrelevant. Karou just didn't know what it was, but he wasn't going to be able to figure out the whole situation out if he didn't try a little harder.

Karou forced a broad smirk and he snapped his fingers with gusto. "Okay! Agent Hitachiin, reporting to—" His voice faltered when he saw Kyoya's obviously unamused expression.

"You may go now."

Karou had never, ever wanted to hear those words as much as he did now.


End file.
